BajaNomad

I regret to inform you all

fdt - 11-8-2007 at 06:57 PM

that we will not be able to transmit a show tonight (I know everyone is anxious and waiting same as every evening;) ) but all Scouts were called to help at the Red Cross "Cruz Roja", as a group is gong to travel to Tabasco to help the victims so we have to help out. By the way, if any of you out there happens to have an extra life vest, roap, waterproof flashlights, inner tubes or any type of spare rescue equipment, you don't have a need for it and would like to allow the scouts to give it good use in this effort, please email or U2U me to see if we can coordinate and get it to them.

Here is an email that we received as a desperate call for help from Tabasco Scouts:

Hola, este es un mail pidiendo ayuda para todos nuestros amigos de Tabasco. Debido a que somos miembros de la Asociación de Scouts de México, un grupo de scouts jóvenes del gpo 1 de Tabasco, llegaron el día de ayer al DF, en busca de ayuda, ellos ya no tienen nada, lo único que les queda es el servicio que ellos pueden prestar. Al hablar con ellos, nos contaron que las condiciones de Tabasco son muy malas, ya hay suficientes víveres, toda la ayuda esta llegando a ellos, el problema es que no hay suficientes voluntarios para repartir la comida a toda la gente que se quedo sin nada, por lo que el ejercito decido, enfocarse a los albergues y ya no están rescatando a gente. Nuestros amigos de Tabasco nos cuentan que han encontrado gente muerta en las aguas de Tabasco, que hay mucha gente mas atrapada en las casas y ellos lo que quieren es encontrar equipo en el DF para llevarlo a Tabasco y ayudar a gente que aun sigue atrapada en sus casas, ya que el ejercito ya no se da a basto y no pueden seguir sacando a gente. Voluntarios como estos muchachos que vinieron al DF se han encontrado con muchas puertas cerradas, por favor te pido que si te llega este mail y tienes la posibilidad de donar algo que no sean víveres ni ropa como , chalecos salvavidas, lámalas ( repelentes al agua) con pilas, cascos, cuerdas de nylon ixtle o perlones ,arneses para escalar, guantes de carnaza , cámaras de llantas, lo que sea que pueda ayudar como equipo de rescate te pido que te comuniques a los los siguientes teléfonos:
Jose Francisco Gonzáles escouter del grupo 359 BJ: 0445527320318, o a casa 55199259 mail : panchini165@hotmail.com
Mariana Villanueva clanera 95 GAM : 0445532259149 o a casa 57520733
Lorena Lomeli clanera 95 GAM: 0445513192411
Isaac : ex jefe de clan del grupo 1 de tabasco : cel : 5534216853
Augusto jefe de clan del grupo 1 de tabasco: cel 9931572443
Necesitamos de tu ayuda por favor!!! Hay gente muriendo y podemos hacer una diferencia!

It basicaly sais that the situation is pretty bad, the army is not enough an they are concentrating on shelters and are not rescuing people that are still stranded. They have enough food, medicine, clothes, blankets and so on but not rescue equipmet to help.
Gracias

Gentle suggestion:

Dave - 11-8-2007 at 07:34 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by fdt
all Scouts were called to help at the Red Cross "Cruz Roja", as a group is gong to travel to Tabasco to help the victims so we have to help out.


This story has legs!

I think all listeners would be interested in a program about the Scouts and their efforts. Also, the Tabasco crisis is getting very little U.S. press. Has the Mexican government done enough to convey the urgency of the situation? I can't help but believe that if asked, U.S. response, both public and private, would be open-ended.

Maybe, and if you find time, you put together a show for later broadcast?

DENNIS - 11-8-2007 at 07:47 PM

This thing is like Katrina all over again.

Nope, not even close

Dave - 11-8-2007 at 08:25 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS
This thing is like Katrina all over again.


Given limited resources, Mexico's doing a pretty good job. They actually anticipated flooding and had some troops in place. Given the cultural mindset, I find that truly amazing. ;)

1999 was their Katrina.

Cruz Roja in Rosarito

Gypsy Jan - 11-8-2007 at 08:41 PM

...is taking donations for the victims. Specifically requesting canned foods, beans and rice.

The local schools here are conducting donation drives - there is a strong desire to contribute something, anything, to help the people in Tabasco.

Hook - 11-8-2007 at 09:44 PM

Oh, there's been plenty of coverage in the LA area.

Some of it not so good.................

Corruption blamed for Tabasco floods

Funding for prevention measures in the Mexican state was squandered, say critics, who also point to overbuilding and deforestation.

By Marla Dickerson and Reed Johnson, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
November 8, 2007

VILLAHERMOSA, MEXICO -- Although many people in this rainy, low-lying tropical city regard last week's catastrophic flood as an act of God or fate, others see it largely as a man-made disaster that could have been anticipated and should have been prevented.

Residents of Tabasco state, one of Mexico's poorest and most isolated areas, have experienced such calamities before, including a 1999 deluge that left more than 600 people dead.

But even as water levels slowly receded this week, environmental activists, opposition politicians and others expressed frustration and anger that more was not done after the 1999 calamity to avoid a replay. They said that the present flooding was fueled by rampant overbuilding, deforestation and wetlands destruction, and the squandering of funds that should have been spent on flood-prevention measures.

"The problem of Tabasco is that corruption continues reigning," said Francisco Sanchez Ramos, a federal congressman who represents Tabasco. "Without doubt, this tragedy could have been avoided."

Tabasco and neighboring Chiapas state continue to struggle with the aftermath of the inundation that has claimed at least 19 lives and left tens of thousands homeless. Tabasco's governor, Andres Granier, has estimated damage at nearly $5 billion and says that many evacuees will not be able to return for months.

Health officials fear outbreaks of diseases such as dengue fever, cholera and malaria. Opportunistic criminals are another concern. As of Tuesday, authorities had arrested 65 suspected looters in Villahermosa, according to the newspaper Tabasco Hoy.

In Chiapas, rescue workers continued searching for about two dozen residents of San Juan Grijalva who were feared dead. Their village, 45 miles upstream from here, was virtually wiped out late Sunday after part of a rain-soaked mountainside slid into the Grijalva River, producing one or more huge waves of muddy water that swept houses off their foundations.

President Felipe Calderon has visited the area four times since the flooding began and has pledged to create a $670-million reconstruction fund. But previous efforts to create a modern flood-control infrastructure here succumbed to corruption, cronyism and mismanagement, a number of people said.

"The resources that were given from [1999] and 2000 for the matter of inundation were badly applied, badly handled," said Hugo Ireta, a member of the Santo Tomas ecological association. "The state government gave the concession for these works to people that had no idea of what was needed, that never did studies."

Those sentiments were echoed by other Tabascans. Surveying the stinking, brackish lake that now lies within a few yards of her family's restaurant near this city's center, Tomasa Perez, an octogenarian, chalked up the latest flooding to forces of nature beyond human control.

Her son Fernando shook his head. "It didn't have to be this bad," he said. "Corruption played a part in all this."

George Grayson, a professor of comparative politics at the College of William & Mary in Virginia, said Tabasco has had "a series of extremely corrupt governors," including Roberto Madrazo, who was accused of massive campaign finance violations in 1994 but never prosecuted. Madrazo finished third in Mexico's 2006 presidential race and was recently in the news again over allegations that he had cheated to win the "men's 55-and-over" category of the Berlin Marathon, a charge he denied.

Grayson, who specializes in Mexican politics, predicted that the latest disaster would spur a massive migration from Tabasco to Mexico City and towns along the U.S. border.

"They've not only lost their homes, they've also lost their jobs, because the fishing and agriculture industries have been devastated," he said.

This city's downtown has been jammed with police, military vehicles and thousands of people queuing up for assistance around the governor's headquarters, whose manicured grounds have become a round-the-clock relief center teeming with soldiers and volunteers.

Pablo Fernandez Lopez went there for medical help. The exhausted 29-year-old construction worker said he and his wife lost everything to a fast-rising current that swallowed their home. Even the jeans and T-shirt he wore were donated. His bare feet were swollen and raw with fungus from exposure to the fetid water.

Dr. Derki Cerna Tejeda said his makeshift clinic was serving about 200 people a day, most of them suffering from skin rashes and diarrhea. Of more concern were the diabetics and dialysis patients for whom he had little treatment.

"We're doing our best, but the reality is that we're short on everything," Cerna said.

Marine Lt. Humberto Ortigosa was among an estimated 8,500 federal troops sent to Tabasco to keep order and distribute supplies. A career military man, Ortigosa has helped after many disasters, including the magnitude 8.1 earthquake that leveled Mexico City in 1985.

"Lamentably, I have to say that Mexico doesn't have a culture of prevention," said Ortigosa, 37. "We're always reacting. We have a saying here: 'When the child drowns, we want to cap the well.' "

Mini-mart owner Franklin Alcudia's neighborhood north of downtown was among those hardest hit. On Wednesday morning, with an armload of salvaged possessions, he slid down an awning from a second-floor window above his store into a waiting rowboat, one of several makeshift water taxis that have popped up here.

The businessman, who estimated that he had lost $20,000 worth of merchandise and equipment, said he and neighbors already had formed the nucleus of a citizens committee to demand that money be spent for dredging and building better retaining walls. Reminded that previous floods had sparked similar outrage that evaporated once things dried out, he shook his head firmly.

"What's different this time is that we have lost everything," Alcudia said. "We're done with being quiet."

marla.dickerson@latimes.com

reed.johnson@latimes.com